Inside Politics

He said he resents the power that has flowed to the executive branch and the judiciary.

“I want to obey the Constitution and follow its very great restrictions on the government,” he said.

IRS

Irene prompts extension of tax amnesty deadline

The Internal Revenue Service said it is extending the deadline for international tax cheats to come clean and take advantage of reduced penalties because of the effects of Hurricane Irene.

The program, announced in February, was to end Wednesday. The IRS said Friday that it would extend the deadline to Sept. 9 because of the massive hurricane that worked its way up the East Coast.

The program allows international tax evaders who come clean to avoid incarceration and pay reduced fines. The offer is similar to one the IRS made in 2009 that netted 15,000 tax evaders.

Under the program, people must pay back taxes, interest and reduced penalties.

UTAH

Hatch doesn’t expect challenge from Matheson

SALT LAKE CITY — Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, Utah Republican, said he does not think Rep. Jim Matheson, a Democrat, will end up running against him next year.

Mr. Hatch told KTVX-TV during the weekend that the two men are good friends and he thinks the lone Democrat in the state’s Capitol Hill delegation will opt to run for re-election to a seventh term in the House.

Rep. Jason Chaffetz had considered challenging Mr. Hatch in a Republican primary but announced last week that he had decided against it.

A Salt Lake Tribune poll in mid-August suggested that a race between Mr. Hatch and Mr. Matheson would be competitive. It had the 77-year-old senator pulling 48 percent and Mr. Matheson 43 percent in the survey with an error margin of 4 percentage points.